About four miles east from Tavistock, and close by the road which leads from that town to Moreton-Hampstead, are several Circular arrangements and rows of stones, the origin of which is unknown. The tradition prevails, that they were collected and disposed in particular forms at a time when a dreadful plague raged at Tavistock, and that the inhabitants resorted to this place for provisions. The farmers bringing their marketable commodities, and placing them on certain stones, retired to a distance, when the purchasers took the goods, and left money in their place.
From ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ volume IV, 1803.
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